Review: Toy Story 5

The latest instalment of Toy Story introduces debate on screens

Yesterday I saw Toy Story 5 in the theatre with my two nephews. The last one I saw? The original one by Pixar, way back in 1995!

Luckily you don't need to have seen Toy Story 2, 3 and 4 to know what's going on in the latest one, which has a very apt storyline that resonates with the debate on kids and screen times.

Bonnie is a girl who first appeared in Toy Story 3, inheriting the toys that now teenager Andy used to play with. In this latest instalment, Bonnie loves Jessie, the cowgirl with her trusty steed Bullseye.

Jessie (centre) tries to grapple with technology

However, Bonnie is shy and scared to make friends, mostly due to insecurity, as she still loves playing with toys.

Her parents worry and give her a tablet called Lilypad which makes Bonnie happy, but then she is soon addicted to the device, neglecting Jessie and the other toys.

Sound familiar? The scenes of seeing children and adults addicted to screens in every household, from tablets to phones and computers is so relatable and interesting to see it reflected through this feature animation.  

Through Lilypad the tablet, she can connect with other "friends" online, but Jessie believes the girl needs to connect with friends in real life and makes it her mission to make that happen.

Along the way Jessie meets some other low-tech toys that were quickly ditched. Conan O'Brien is funny as Smarty Pants, a first-generation tablet that supposedly helps kids potty train, and his buddies, a GPS called Atlas and digital camera named Snappy.

Meanwhile there is a subplot where a shipping box filled with a lot of the latest high-tech version of Buzz Lightyear get stranded on an island and they look to the sky to find "Star Command", and some how manage to meet up with the original Buzz.

Smarty Pants (left) voiced by Conan O'Brien

Lilypad is voiced by Greta Lee, while Joan Cusack reprises her role as Jessie, Tom Hanks as Woody and Tim Allen as Buzz. This time around Jessie is the star of the show, with a romantic sides story involving Buzz; Woody is just a supportive character this time, as are the rest of the toys.

How much longer can the Toy Story franchise keep going? 

If they can find more storylines like this one about screen addiction that are relevant, then yes. If not, it might actually be time for these toys to really end up in the garbage heap...

Toy Story 5

Written and directed by Andrew Stanton

102 minutes